What’s been going on with me? Well, quite a bit. Here are a few quick snippets. I have more good news to share in June. Stay tuned because it’s really gonna be awesome to share out!

My little sister Sade turned 16 years old last week. I sent her a serious care package with some Detroit love, Better Made potato chips along with some other stuff that I thought a 16 year old would find interesting, (not easy to do for an almost 40 year old guy) but she was quite happy.

She’s been so strong over the past year and has been working hard on making all things positive in her life. She recently became a member of the Alpha Kappa Omega Hearts sorority, A flag girl in her high school band, a member of the school gospel choir and all while maintaining good grades (not counting math but that’s another story).

She makes me happy and I admire her courage! And damn, I can’t believe she’s 16.

I recently started going back to the gym to work my husky body. My goal is to drop at least 20 pounds by my birthday in September. I’ve done it before and I’m about to do it again.  I have to look hot when I hit the beaches of Cancun.

I’ve been crazy busy with work, all kinds of work and I’m enjoying using my talents, skill and abilities to make others happy.

Now, keep in mind that I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit!

I’ll be in DC this weekend visiting and celebrating with friends and I cannot wait. I haven’t been on a trip since February and it’s time to get the hell out of dodge!

I could go on and on about myself but I’ll stop here.

My little sweet baby, Tongi laid an egg today. I noticed her building a nest over the last few days and then today I came home to her little white surprise.

This is her 4th egg in a year. The last time, she laid 3 eggs in the course of a few weeks. I wonder what will happen this time.

I view her egg laying and timing as a good omen because every time it’s happened, I received some great news. Today was no exception and I’m grateful for the Birmingham Family Court for honoring my family and doing the right thing!

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BTW, can you tell which image here was taken with an SLR or which with an iPhone????

Last weekend, I was in NYC for Fashion Week working as a fashion liaison.

I attended some shows, went back stage, did some art gallery tours, chilled out at the Hotel Chelsea in a SUPER swanky room that rocked my world & such.

This was the 1st time that I did not attend as a photographer and it was REFRESHING! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my experience photographing runway shows and presentations from some of America’s top designers but the work is killer! You’re left drained by the end of the week feeling like you’re near death… It would take me a day or two to recover; feet, back, mind…

Who knows what the next season will have in store for me. Guess we will see.

The image above is from Libertine’s 2013 fall/winter collection & taken with my trusty iPhone! You can see looks from the show here.

If you don’t follow me on Facebook, you can go there to ”like” me & catch up on some of my mini-adventures.

New York Fashion Week is in full swing & I’m in town to take it all in as I work as a Fashion Liaison… Feels funny being here for Fashion Week and not working like a dog as a photographer. And Im enjoying it.

What is a Fashion Liaison? No one knows but I was flown out & put up to do it and like anything I do, I will do it well.

Between attending events, I will have my camera in hand to snap some street looks. Hoping to see some outrageous stuff; that is if the weather permits. There’s something going around saying that there will be 3-30″ of snow this weekend. What kind of range is that???

Holla!

2012 was a bitch & my boo at the same damn time! Here are my top 10 highlights:

• Hearing my sweet baby Amelia tell me that she missed & loved me after not seeing each other for 8 months.
• Finalization of my divorce & My EPIC “The Ring Didn’t Mean a Thing” divorce party.
• College graduation & party. The party & the morning after was some of the sexiest shit ever.
• My trip to Los Angeles: Having Lunch with my boo, Los Angelista at the La Brea Tar Pits: Having lunch with my boo, Ayanna at the Getty, Brunching with my boo, Thembi at Taste, Riding around & getting it with my niggas, Marcel & Asia, ya bish & of course the LA Sip & See at Lola’s with all of my west coast family…
• Traipsing around Brooklyn with Cousin Dee & landing in Hotel Delano.
• Listening to Kendrick Lamar’s “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” album for the 1st time.
• Making the New York Times Style section.
• My parrot, Tongi laying 4 eggs.
• Being surrounded by love & support from my great friends and family.
• Re-connecting with my big cousin Danny.

Hit up my favorite portraits from the year…..

For no reason other than laziness, I had been holding on to a few rolls of film with a Kung Fu grip.

Every week for months, I’d promise myself to get it processed but it took 8 months for it to finally happen.

I didn’t feel like driving way out to my usual small camera store, so I did the unthinkable and went to CVS for film processing. The horror!  When I dropped it off, the cashier seemed a little unsteady & I just hoped this young guy did not mess up my rolls.

Well, he didn’t and I got some great stuff that I’m excited to share, FINALLY!

Here’s the first in the last of my NYC Analog Portrait series and I’d like to say that it gets better from here.

This photo of Eva Marcille Pigford of America’s Next Top Model fame was taken back in February 2012 just before I left for LaGuardia. She was leaving Lincoln Center and surrounded by photographers.

I kinda pushed my way through the crowd and said “hey boo, can I get a few snapshots.” She said “of course, boo,” and she posed down for me. Then she disappeared into thin air.

It was awesome! And she looks fucking great!

Check here to view more of my NYC Analog Street Portrait series.

I saw this business card concept on Dribble by French designer Frederic Tourrou of Beasty Design & had to bite his style for myself.

So simple, fun & catchy. And of course, as an Apple fan, it got me really hype.

I’d love to have this printed…. Maybe…

I get requests often from agencies, individuals etc asking me for permission to use my photos for various projects. More often than not, the request come with the following line “I don’t have a budget but will give you credit.”

When I read that bit, it’s a wrap. I don’t need credit, I need cash! Why are people so crazy to think that I will offer free product for them to use to get paid off of? Maybe I’m the crazy one?

Yesterday, I got the request below from architecture firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro & I started to cuss when I read the last paragraph! See for yourself:

“Dear Tafari Stevenson-Howard,

I am contacting you from Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the architecture studio that designed the Lincoln Center Redevelopment in New York. We are currently designing a book in collaboration with Lincoln Center covering our work on the campus from 2003 through the present. The first edition will be a run of 5,000 books, with an expected publication date of December 2012.

We have found that the Revson Fountain at Lincoln Center has been a focal point for pictures posted online and we would like to feature this phenomena in our publication. We are interested in one of your images of the Revson Fountain on Flickr and would like permission to use it in our book. The image would be small, approximately 2″ x 1″, alongside images by other Flickr photographers, and we are requesting the reproduction authorization of this work. It is found here:

www.flickr.com/photos/bygbaby/6952930643/??

The book is being produced in house and due to our limited budget and the limited run of books being produced, we are unable to provide you with pay or a copy of the book. If you do allow us to use your image could you please provide me with how you would like to be credited?

We look forward to your reply, with kindest regards.

Sofia Balters”

My was response was:

“Hello Sofia,

Thanks for inquiring but I am not interested.

The time, effort, creativity energy and cost of my camera equipment that I used to create this image is worth more than photo credit.

I’m an award winning photographer, Getty Images contributor, style icon and US citizen that has bills to pay.

Should you be interested in purchasing this photo, I’d love to talk more.

And yes, this offer is insulting!

Best,

Tafari”

Who are these people? And did they Google my name before they sent that request?

Detroit: Join me Saturday at the Majestic for the Holiday Baar Bazaar. I’ll have deep discounts on Quench Essentials products (my other hustle)! www.quenchessentials.net

And…… There will be great music and other artsy hustlers peddling their wares for the masses!

I met Kevin maybe a little over a year ago on Twitter through a mutual connection. Maybe it has been longer. I don’t know but time on Twitter flies.

Earlier this summer Kevin visited Detroit but we were not able to link up, unfortunately… But we were able to catch each other in NYC a few days after Hurricane Irene rocked the Northeast coast.

He introduced me to a new favorite eatery in the East Village named La Palapa. The great thing about this eatery was that it was not like a dancer with hateration and there was plenty of good food and drink.

I have to say that I have been VERY lucky meeting people in real life whom I have only known online.  Everyone that I have interacted with in real life has been cool as hell & totally someone who I would have long-term friendships with. And this goes for Kevin. A cool funny brother who loves to chop it up.

Kevin like most of my friends is a right brain thinker and artist.  In addition to being a regular social commentator via Twitter, Kevin is a voice, stage & screen actor. He has been seen in Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU and more.  He has also served as the audio book voice for authors such as Charles W. Chesnutt, Touré & Hill Harper.

After I captured this image of Kevin, we parted ways & he headed to his first meeting as one of the playwrights of The Fire This Time Festival, which opens January 19 in NYC and it features his new play, “The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual.” Me, not being as fancy or reknown, headed to Washington Square Park where I enjoyed the sights and sounds my most favorite place on earth.

Check here to view more of my NYC Analog Street Portrait series.

Last night was the art show & reception that I have only been talking about for the last several weeks.

In a nutshell, everything was perfect! Many of my friends came out to show love & support, I met some great new people & I was able to talk about my art and share my passion through the theme of Black Women and Food.

When Olivia & I finished hanging the work last Thursday, I took a step back and felt very proud of the presentation. Prints on metallic paper, great custom framing and vivid color really gave me what I wanted.

The event lasted for about three hours but it felt like only 15 minutes. I was in a time vacuum with my new church shoes on…

I could easily say that the highlight of the night was selling 5 pieces of art off of the walls but it was not the highlight. The highlight for me was having my people there to support me, the art and the community of Detroit area photographers. Now of course, I am looking at my sales receipts and smiling like a mofo! I’m just saying.

Another fine highlight from last night other than me looking like a million dollars in my Versace was that someone purchased one of my BEST photos ever, “The Giver” (pictured above). I’m looking forward to installing it next Saturday…….

This photo has been looking for the right home for a while now. So happy that the right person decided to make that move.

As soon as I have photos from the event courtesy of my official unofficial photographer, L O T I, I will post them….

Thanks for hanging in there with me my friends!!!

Tafari

Been running around all evening getting some last minute framing done. Got off work later than I wanted to, had to deal with rush hour and make it to two frame shops before 7pm.

I was able to make it all happen but I was wiped out of energy big time.

Since I’ve been home, I realized two mistakes with my framing that I made, which have to corrected by tomorrow evening when I go to Detroit to hang the art.

I really wish, I could just have someone do this stuff for me. Being an artist, semi-perfectionist & having little time to fit everything in is way too much right here, right now. And you know how sensitive about my shit I am…

Hoping that all of the pieces are back in place tomorrow. I really am…

Getting ready for a show, in my experience is never fun. So much to do, so little time…. And of course, I do EVERYTHING at the last minute.

A good friend asked me if I was ready for the show. I told him no, not hardly but I know what I’m wearing…. Gonna pull out some Versace, just to be fancy. You know how I do…

BTW, my show theme is Black Women & Food…. 2 of my favorite things.

On some unrelated notes:

- Yesterday, the new hygienist at my dentist office told me that she liked my Jamaican accent. Then she told me that my hair was interesting. I’m from B’ham, AL & grew up in Detroit. I don’t have an accent until I go back home to AL… They all think I sound fancy & proper.

- An older woman told me that I reminded her of Stevie Wonder. Not sure if it’s the hair or if she things that I make random body movements like Stevie. I’m just lost on the comparison.

- I registered for my LAST CLASS at Eastern Michigan University. Graduation is just a few short months away!!!

- My kids put up a Christmas tree and it is short of looking like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. Since I stopped celebrating Christmas, the tree has been looking like a mess but it makes them happy & that’s the important piece.

BTW: Bet there, bitches!

Date: 12.10.11
Time: 7pm
Location: Woodbridge Pub | 5169 Trumbull, Detroit, MI

Is it déjà vu?

“CONGRATULATIONS!

We are happy to inform you that your application for Press and Industry Accreditation for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week In New York F/W 2012 has been approved.”

Seems like I was just in NYC for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week & here I am on the cusp of December solidifying my plans for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week’s 2012 fall/winter shows.

Since Monday:

• Credentials approved
• Assistant hired
• Room at the W booked
• Bags mentally packed

Yet to be done:

• Airfare
• Plan NYC Sip & See
• Actually pack
• Hit my dougie

I’m excited & not only that, I’m just happy to be getting out of Michigan even though it’s going to be cold in NYC but a trip is a trip!

My friends from The NYLA Report & I are going to be bigger & badder so I hope them bitches at Lincoln Center gone be ready for us!